Vacuum cleaner



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Patented Apr. l1, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT orFlcE VACUUM CLEANER Edwin W. Vose, Orange, N. J.

applicati@ February 11,1943, serial No. 415,473

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in vacuum cleaners and has for an object the provision of a vacuum cleaner which is light in weight, easily portable, and particularly adapted for retrieving materials lost from construction and production operations.

Another object of the invention is the 'provision, in a vacuum cleaner or material retriever, of an inverted filter and achamber immediately below said lter adapted to contain the collected or retrieved materials.

A further object of'the invention is the provision of a cleaner unit adapted to be quickly associated with a motor driven fanl unit.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision, in a vacuum cleaner, of a unit including a pick-up head, a conduit carrying said head and extending into said unit, an inverted filter within said unit; said unit being connected to a portable motor driven blower by means of a ilexible conduit. l

Another object of the invention is the provision, in a vacuum cleaner or material retriever, of a filter chamber having mounted therein a deiiecting plate upon which the material enterin the chamber impinges.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a .deflecting plate, the surface of which has secure'd thereto wear-resistant material which is substantially unaffected by the material impinging thereon.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a study of the attached drawing and specification.

Referring to the drawing- Figure 1 is an external view of the new and improved vacuum cleaner;

Figure 2 is a plan'view, partly in section, of the cleaner shown in Figure 1; y

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view showing one arrangement of the target upon which pick-up material impinges; and

Figure 4 is a view showing a modified form of the new and improved vacuum cleaner wherein the motor driven blower is connected to thecleaner per se by means of a iiexible conduit.

My co-pending application, Serial No. 475,471, filed Feb. l1, 1943, relates to spraying devices for liquids, a typical example of the use of which is described in connection with the application of liquid asphaltum to the surfaces or roofs and the like.

My co-pending application, Serial No. 475,472,

filed Feb. 11, 1943, relates to a granule sprayer.

.asphaltum This has two advantages:

solid materials A typical example of the use 'of this device would be the application of ground oyster shells, etc., to the surfaces which have been previously coated with asphaltum, the granules or the like impinging upon the coated surfaces of the roofs or the like.

Now when the job is finished, my new and .improved vacuum cleaner; the subject of the present application, may be utilized for cleaning up" the Job and recovering and removing all nely divided material which did not stick to the (i) It leaves the job thoroughly clean; and (2) it recovers the unadhered material and saves it.

In the present application, use is shown of sub stantially the same motor blower unit as was utilized in the apparatus of the co-pending applications referred to above. v'Il'.'his motor driven blower unit is designated by the numeral i0, and has a common casing to which a suitable handle Il is secured. A switch I2 is provided for con trolling the flow of current to the motor. A suitable hook I3 is mounted on the motor blower unit so that the upper end of the new and improved cleaner may be supported by a strap il which fits about the operators neck.

` A conductor cord i5 is provided for connecting the motor to a source of current, and this cord includes a switch I6 by means of which the current flowing to themotor may be controlled by the operator. The motor driven blower unit is so arranged that air enters the fan end through the' opening lll, and the casing I0 has lugs Il and I9 mounted thereon.

The cleaner per se has a cylindrical casing 20. the upper end oi' which has mounted therein a closure plate 2| having a hole 22 formed therein. Mounted in the hole 22 is a strainer 23 which strains the air entering the blower.

The lower end of the cylindrical casing 20 has a closure member24 mounted therein. This closure member has a hole 25 formed therein 'through which the recovered material may be emptied, as will hereinafter be described.

The hole 25 is closed with a plug 28 which may carry a ring 21 to form a handle therefor. lThe closure member 24 also has a central hole 2l formed therein, and a pipe or rigid conduit 29 forms a press fit with the hole 28, and has one portion 20* extending into lthe casing 20, and a portion 29b upon which is mounted a suitable nozzle 30 for traversing the surface to be cleaned or from which lmaterial is to be recovered.

The inner end of the portion 28* is anchored for handling granules and other finely divided or steadied in the cylindrical casing 20 by means of a ring member 3l which forms a fit for the interior of the casing 20, and includes a portion 3 I embracing the rigid conduit 29.

A filter bag 32 has its open end retained in contact with the interior wall of the casing 20 by means of an annular member 33. The upper end of the filter bag 32 is anchored to the closure plate 2l by means of springs 34 and 35, each spring having one end connected to the lter bag and the other end connected to the closure plate 2|.

Carried on the extreme end of the portion 29B is a bracket member 36 upon which is mounted a target 31. This target is secured to the bracket 38 by any suitable means, for example by rivets 38. Mounted on the face of the target 31 is a disc 39 of resilient material which is substantially unaffected by material impinging thereon through the tube 29. Although many different materials may be chosen for the disc 39, I have found that rubber is the most effective.

When the switch I 6 is thrown on, the motor driven blower (unit I) starts operating and air is drawn through the nozzle 35 up the conduit 29, and as the materials leave the conduit 29 they impinge upon the rubber disc or target 39 and most of their force is thereby expended. This prevents damage such as undue Wearing or the like to the fabric or other materials of which the filter bag 32 is made.

As the operator traverses the area to be cleaned' with the nozzle 30, the loose material is picked up, it impinges on the target disc 39 and falls to the lower portion of the chamber within the easing 20. This lower chamber is designated by the numeral 40; so that at the end of an operation the recovered material may fall out of the chamber 4|) into any suitable container when the plug 26 is removed.

The casing 20, which houses the cleaner unit, carries suitable clamping members 4I and 42 which are respectively adapted to engage the lugs I8 and I9 for securing the motor and the casing 20 together to form e, unitary structure. These clamping members may be of a type widely used on trunks.

The motor driven blower unit is similar to the one shown and described in the co-pending applications, and may be interchangeably used with the devices shown in said applications, the only difference being that the devices shown in said applications are connected to the discharge end of the blower unit, whereas my new and improved vacuum cleaner, the subject of the present application, is connected to the inlet end of the blower.

In the modification of my new and improved vacuum cleaner, as shown in Figure 4, the motor driven blower unit I0 has a flanged fitting 43 secured thereto. 'Ihis fitting is embraced by the end 44 of a flexible hose or conduit 44.

The casing 2li is substantially like the casing 2G except that the closure plate 2I has mounted thereon a flanged fitting 43, similar to the flanged fitting 43 above referred to. The other end 44h of the flexible conduit 44 is secured to the fitting 43B. A handle 49 is secured to the upper end of the casing 20 and is provided to facilitate thehandling of the new and improved vacuum cleaner.

To use the cleaner, the operator having a suitable harness on the body, engages a hook I3 on the motor with said harness, preferably in such a manner that the motor driven unit I0 is behind him. He may then reach back turn on the switch I2 to start the motor driven unit l0. and may then take hold of the handle 46 and move the casing 20 back and forth to cause the nozzle 30 to traverse the area to be cleaned.

By separating the motor driven blower unit from the cleaner per se, I find that a great deal more flexibility is obtained, and the cleaning-up job can be done in a minimum of time. In both arrangements shown, the chamber 40 within the casing 20 is particularly adapted to hold a large quantity of recovered or picked-up material, and this material is, as pointed out above, prevented from injuring or destroying the filter bag 32 due to the fact that the material first impinges upon the rubber disc 39 mounted on the target 31 and has its force spent, and then falls down into the chamber 40. None `of the recovered material remains on the surface of the strainer bag 32 due to the fact that the latter is inverted.

Although I have herein shown and described one form of my new and improved vacuum cleaner and a modification thereof, it is obvious that many changes may be made in the arrangements herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of the invention as hereinafter set forth in the annexed claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a vacuum cleaner, a container or tank having a closure member at each end thereof, a tubular member having a nozzle formed on one end thereof and having the other end extending through one of said closure members and extending into said container, an opening formed .in said last-mentioned closure member, removable means closing said opening, a target adjacent to said other end of said tube against which material passing through said tube into said container may impinge, a strainer or filter within said container spaced apart from said target and protected thereby, a closure head for the other end of said container or tank, an opening formed in said head, and means on said head for detachably connecting the interior of said container via said last opening to a source of sub-atmospheric pressure.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, a container or tank having a closure member at each end thereof, a tubular member having a nozzle formed on one end thereof and having the other end extending through one of said closure members and extending into said container, an opening formed in said last-mentioned closure member, removable means closing said opening, a target adjacent to said other end of said tube against which material passing through said tube into said container may impinge, a strainer or lter within said container'spaced apart from said target and protected thereby, a closure head for the other end of said container or tank, an opening formed in said head, a fitting spanning said last-mentioned opening, a source of subatmospheric pressure, and flexible means for connecting said source to said fitting.

3. In a vacuum cleaner, a container or tank having a closure member at each end thereof, a tubular member having a nozzle formed on one end thereof and having the other end extending through one of said closure members and extending into said container, an opening formed in said last-mentioned closure member, removable means closing said opening, a target adjacent to said other end of said tube against which material passing through said tube into said container may impinge, a strainer or filter within said container spaced apart from said target and protected thereby, a closure head for the other end of said container or tank, an opening formed in said head, a strainer covering said opening securing means on said container adjacent to said last-mentioned end, a motor driven blower having an inlet port adapted to coincide with said lastmentioned opening when said blower is positioned on said last end, and means on said blower adaptedto be engaged by said securing means for securing said blower on said container.

4. In a vacuum cleaner, a container or tank` having a closure member at each end thereof, a tubular member having a nozzle formed on one end thereof and having the other end extending through the lower of said closure members and extending into said container, an opening formed in said last-mentioned closure member, removable means closing said opening, a target disc within said container and spaced apart from said other end of saidtube, said target disc being of sufficient diameter to be engaged by all of the material passing into said container through said tubular member, a coating of rubber or other resilient materialon the surface of said disc for protecting-the latter from being worn away by said material, a strainer or lter within said container spaced apart from said target disc and protected thereby, a closure head for the upper end of said container, an opening formed in said last head, means on said last head for detachably connecting the interior of said container via said last opening to a source of sub-atmosphericipressure, and means for opening the lower end of said container for permitting the operator to remove material therefrom.

EDWIN W. VOSE. 

